Couple reveals sex of child raised as ‘genderless’ for 5 years

[nebula]

British couple reveals sex of child they raised as ‘genderless’ for 5 years

Published January 20, 2012

NewsCore

SAWSTON, England -- A British couple who raised their child as "gender neutral" in a bid to break free from stereotyping revealed Friday that their five-year-old is a boy.

Beck Laxton and her partner Kieran, from Sawston in central England, referred to their son, Sasha, as "the infant" and dressed the youngster in ambiguous outfits to keep his sex a secret from friends and strangers.

They decided to tell people the child's gender after it became more difficult to conceal when he started pre-school.

Laxton, a 46-year-old web editor, told the Cambridge News of her reasons for raising a "genderless" child.

"I wanted to avoid all that stereotyping," she said. "Stereotypes seem fundamentally stupid. Why would you want to slot people into boxes?"

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[nebula]

My impression:

A lesbian couple dressing a boy in flowery stuff (mentioned later in the article) makes one believe they hate masculinity.

[Matthitjah]

My impression; "These folks should be arrested for child abuse."

[vlad]

Basically that is not just trying to avoid stereotype. That is a natural result of modern global attempts to destroy gender, nationality and religion Some fall into this trap and some will hold on to their time-tested values and survive.

[OneLight]

This only reminds me of the song "A Boy Named Sue". This child needs to be removed for his best interest.

[joi]

The first five years of a child's life pretty much determine the rest of his life, in so far as his values and so on.

Now that he is going to be in kindergarten he will be exposed to other boys. It should be interesting to see what

he learns and picks up from them.

[Guest]

Who, wanting to have a gender neutral child, would name it Sasha? How about Chris? I suppose it it to close to Christopher (Christ Bearer) or Christine (follower of Christ). Whatever, I feel certain they did not try to hard to be neutral. I am glad they finally got on board with his gender, since he would have figured it out, soon enough. Problem is, he is going to remember this all his life probably. I wonder if he was ever asked what gender he was, and how he responded.

[amor]

My impression:

A lesbian couple dressing a boy in flowery stuff (mentioned later in the article) makes one believe they hate masculinity.

Except that the idea that flowery stuff is somehow unmasculine is very much a culturally specific idea. In plenty of societies today or in British society in the past it would not be seen in that way.

Until the early part of the 20th century it was normal for boys to wear dresses until they were the age of this child, see here, not least because of the problems nvolved in toilet training and related trouser managment issues in the days before the invention of zip fastenings

Here's little quiz for those who are interested. Can you identify this child who became a prominent American citizen in later life?

see here

[amor]

This only reminds me of the song "A Boy Named Sue". This child needs to be removed for his best interest.

A child of five should be removed from the care of two loving, if perhaps eccentric, parents. Do you not think that there are, all too many, other children arround in much worse situations?

There are plenty of posters who advocatethe right the right to homeschool and reject the right of the authorities to interfer or intervene in the way they bring up there children. Do you thin they would benefit from the intense level of state interference that such an approach to enforce conformity on those rearing children that you seem to suggest in this case?

[amor]

as to the risk of confusing names on people's development of a genedered identity.

This is what became of Marion Morrison

(Marion is the one on top, if he turned out like the one beneath I might accept that giving children odd names might have serious developmental consequences!!